Benefiting the Demon
by Kohala
Summary: A demon's backfired spell on Piper gives him an unexpected power over the Charmed Ones. Set in Season Three.
1. Chapter 1

All right, here we go with another "Charmed" fic. This one is set in season three, prior to the wedding, but after Once Upon a Time. I hope you like it. If you're going to leave a review, please be gentle. I realize I'm not a professional writer or anything. I do this strictly for fun. - Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Charmed" or any of its characters. Yada yada yada.

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Piper sat in the middle of the floor in the attic, absently flipping through the pages of the Book of Shadows. It was a little passed 3am and she was having trouble sleeping. She found it relaxing to look through the many passages and entries in the Book of Shadows and would often sit up in the attic with it when she was stressed out or couldn't sleep. She wasn't sure why, but the book seemed to relax her. It may have been the fact that it connected her to many generations of her family, including her mom and Grams.

She crossed her legs and leaned back against a nearby box. She stifled a yawn and ran her fingers along the page that held the spell that had given her and her sisters their powers. Large, hand-written letters spelled out 'A spell for invoking the power of three' at the top of the page. The door of the attic opened slowly, startling Piper enough to make the book fall out of her lap. Prue wandered into the room, arms crossed and still half-asleep.

"Piper," she yawned. "What are you doing up here? It's three in the morning." She walked over to the sofa that Piper was leaning against and sat down.

"I know," Piper sighed. She lifted the book up off of the floor and put it back in her lap. "I couldn't sleep."

"Is Leo snoring again?" asked Prue. She leaned over Piper's shoulder and looked down at the book.

"A little bit," replied Piper. She leaned back against Prue's leg and looked up at her sister. "Actually, a lot. Did I wake you?" Prue shook her head and pulled a blanket that was folded over the arm of the sofa around her shoulders.

"No," replied Prue. "Leo did." Both sisters smiled. "You'd think an angel would be a quieter sleeper." Piper got up and placed the Book of Shadows back on its pedestal.

"Sorry," she said softly. "I've tried to get him to where those nasal strip thingies, but he said there's no way he'd be caught dead wearing them."

"That's funny," said Prue sarcastically. "Considering he is dead."

"Not funny," Piper groaned. She grabbed Prue's hands and helped her to her feet. "Come, you should go back to bed. You have to work in a few hours." Prue groaned and walked slowly toward the door of the attic. She looked back at Piper and shrugged.

"Are you coming?" Prue asked. Piper nodded and crossed her arms.

"Yeah," she replied. "I'll be down in a bit." Prue raised one eyebrow, then turned and left the attic. Piper listened to her sister's footsteps move down the stairs, into the corridor, and into her bedroom. As soon as she heard Prue shut her door, she opened the Book of Shadows and looked down at one of the spells that had been entered into the book centuries ago. "To swap identities?" she read skeptically with one eyebrow raised. The book suddenly flew off of the pedestal and landed on the floor across the room. "What the…"

An arm suddenly wrapped around her, holding her arms down and preventing her from using her powers. Another hand quickly covered her mouth to keep her from screaming. The demon holding her forced her closer to the book, just far enough that the book didn't feel threatened.

"This is perfect," the demon beamed. He looked down at identity spell that Piper had just been looking at. Before the book could close or move away, the demon quickly chanted the spell that was scribbled across the page. Both he and Piper were illuminated in a bright white, which lit the dark attic. Within a few seconds, the two of them stopped glowing and the room was dark once again. The demon let go of Piper and stood back, looking at her with an evil grin.

"What did you do?" Piper snapped. She ran over to the mirror to make sure she hadn't changed.

"This was too easy," the demon laughed. He approached the book confidently, expecting it to think he was Piper. The book, however, couldn't be fooled. It slammed shut and slid across the floor, over to Piper.

"Prue! Phoebe! Leo!" Piper called. She stared angrily at the demon. His smile faded and he suddenly looked worried.

"What the hell!" he snapped. "Why didn't that work?"

"You just pissed off the wrong witch, buddy," Piper growled. She put her hands up to freeze him, but ended up freezing herself. The demon looked at Piper then inspected himself to make sure he wasn't frozen. He walked over to Piper and looked at her in disbelief. He waved one hand in front of her face, just to make sure she really was frozen.

"Well, this is interesting," the demon laughed heartily. "This isn't what I had planned, but it could definitely have some benefits." He could hear the sound of hurried footsteps rushing up the stairs toward the attic. He took another look at Piper, then shimmered out of the room before the remaining Charmed Ones could see him.

"Oh my god, Piper," Phoebe gasped. She ran over to her sister and tried shaking her to unfreeze her.

"Why is she frozen?" Prue asked in disbelief. "Leo, how is she frozen?" Leo moved quickly over to Piper and put his hands on her shoulders.

"I don't know," replied Leo. "She's a good witch. She isn't supposed to freeze." He moved his hands around her and tried healing her, but nothing happened. "Besides the fact that she's frozen, I think she's ok."

"So, this should wear off, right?" asked Prue. "I mean, when Piper freezes things it tends to wear off after awhile."

"Well, I hope so," said Leo. "But we don't know what did this. It's not like she can freeze herself. Something demonic had to have happened to her."

"What do we do?" asked Phoebe. "We can't just leave her here like this." Leo nodded.

"You two stay with her until she unfreezes," Leo instructed. "I'll go check with the Elders and see if they know what happened here." He orbed out of the room without waiting for a conformation from the girls. Phoebe and Prue stood silently, staring at their motionless sister.


	2. Chapter 2

"What the hell happened!" asked Piper. It didn't take long for her to unfreeze, but she was left confused as to how the demon had escaped and how her sisters had suddenly appeared beside her. She was used to being the person to freeze other people. She'd never been on the receiving end before. Prue and Phoebe gently led Piper over to one of the sofas and forced her to sit down.

"You were frozen," replied Prue. "Although, we're not exactly sure how that happened."

"The demon must have my power," said Piper. "I was about to freeze him, but he must have beat me to the punch." Phoebe looked over at the Book of Shadows, which was still on the floor. She stood up and walked over to retrieve it, then placed it back on its pedestal.

"Do you know which demon it was?" asked Prue. Piper shook her head.

"I've never seen him before," replied Piper. "But he's definitely a threat. He kinda got to the Book of Shadows. He grabbed me before I could freeze him and read one of the spells from the book."

"What?" Phoebe gasped. "Demons aren't supposed to be able to get to the book. How did he manage to read one of our spells?"

"He must have had really good eyesight," replied Piper. "He got as close as he could before the book could move and read the spell."

"Do you think it worked?" Phoebe asked. "What kind of spell was it?" She walked back to the sofa and sat beside Piper.

"Well obviously it worked," replied Piper. "He has my power, doesn't he? But it was an identity spell that he read, so I don't understand why he got my power and not my identity."

"It must have backfired," replied Prue. "He may have read it wrong or maybe our spells don't work the same when they're chanted by evil."

"Did he take your power away or just clone it?" Phoebe asked. Piper looked around the room for something to freeze. The room lit up with blue and white orbs as Leo orbed in. Piper took advantage of her target and froze Leo in place once he had completely materialized.

"I still got it," Piper grinned. She wiggled her fingers and unfroze Leo.

"The Elders don't seem to know anything about the attack," said Leo. He obviously had no idea that he had just been frozen. "They have no idea who attacked Piper or how she ended up frozen."

"What a surprise," Prue grumbled softly under her breath.

"As much as I would love to start demon-hunting," said Piper. "Everyone is tired and I think it would be best if we got some rest before hitting the books. It's probably not a good idea to go after demons on no sleep."

"Good idea," said Prue. "We'll figure out who this demon is first thing in the morning. For now, let's all go back to bed." She stood up and looked back at Piper. "All of us." Piper nodded and followed everyone back downstairs. She and Leo crawled into bed and tried to get some sleep. Unfortunately, sleep came easier for Leo than it did for Piper. The second Leo had fallen asleep the room became filled with the sound of his snoring. Piper rolled onto her side and let out and exasperated sigh.

The three sisters stood in the attic, staring down at the book – a common occurrence in the Halliwell household. Prue flipped through the pages, waiting for Piper to pick out one of the demons that could match the description of the one she had faced the previous night. Having had very little sleep, Piper was having a hard time focusing on the book. Her head began dropping forward as she started to fall asleep, but she quickly snapped back to attention. Phoebe looked at her and frowned.

"Honey, did you sleep at all last night?" Phoebe asked. She walked over to Piper's side and wrapped her arms around Piper's waist.

"No," Piper groaned. "I tried, but his snoring is getting worse." She let her head fall back against Phoebe's shoulder. "I need sleep!" she pretended to whine.

"We'll just look through the last couple hundred pages of the book, then you can go back to bed," said Prue. She tapped the open book impatiently. Piper groaned and stared down at the pages of the Book of Shadows as Prue continued to flip through the pages.

"Is that him?" Prue asked. She stopped turning the pages and pointed at an illustration. Piper glanced at the picture and crossed her arms.

"Sure," she replied, completely uninterested. Prue looked at her sister and frowned. Piper quickly avoided eye contact. She knew a Prue-lecture was coming.

"Piper," Prue snapped. "Can you at least try to focus for a second. This is important. A demon was able to come into the attic and read from the Book of Shadows, not to mention clone your power. This demon could pose a serious threat to us. He…" Piper quickly cupped her hand over Prue's mouth to stop her from talking.

"I know. I'm sorry," said Piper. "Let's continue, shall we?" Phoebe grinned and let go of Piper. She took over for Prue, turning the next couple of pages in the book. Piper looked back at the book as images of demon-after-demon flashed passed her. "Wait!" she said suddenly, startling both of her sisters. She went back a few pages in the book and pointed at the picture of the demon that she had faced the previous night.

"That's him?" asked Prue.

"Yep, that's him," replied Piper happily. "Corr, an upper-level demon with the ability to throw fireballs and energy balls. Blah blah, blah. No vanquishing info."

"Blah, blah, blah?" Prue asked. "Do you think you could have a little more enthusiasm?"

"No," replied Piper abruptly. "I'm tired and I'm starting to get a little cranky." Prue looked through the information about Corr and stopped to examine his picture.

"You go to bed," said Phoebe. She walked behind Piper and forced her toward the door of the attic. "We know who we're up against now, so Prue and I will work on a vanquish while you get some rest."

"Thank you," said Piper. She looked back at Prue. "Is that all right with you?" Prue looked up from the book and nodded.

"Sure, no problem," replied Prue. "Have a nice sleep." Piper stared at Prue, making sure she wasn't going to be pissed off with her leaving, then turned and walked downstairs to her bedroom. She flopped onto her bed just as Leo orbed into the room. She looked back at him and groaned.

"I am not in the mood to go fight any demons or warlocks or whatever it is the Elders sent you to have me do," said Piper. Leo smiled and slid onto the bed beside Piper. He wrapped his arm around her and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I kept you up again, didn't I?" he asked. Piper nodded. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I wish there was something I could do."

"I bought you a pack of nasal strips," Piper suggested. She turned her head to look up at him with a huge, pleading smile on her face.

"Yep, I really wish there was something I could do," said Leo, completely ignoring Piper's last comment. Piper elbowed him in the stomach, just hard enough to prove a point. Leo laughed and squeezed her tighter.

Phoebe walked quietly downstairs and into the parlor. She had left Prue to come up with a vanquish on her own to avoid butting heads. She and Prue didn't work well together without Piper to mediate and Phoebe figured it was best to just stay out of the way. She flopped onto the sofa and turned on the TV. As she flipped absently through channels, Corr shimmered in beside her.

Startled, Phoebe jumped off of the sofa and put her fists up; ready to attack him as soon as he stood up. Corr stood up and grinned deviously at Phoebe.

"That's it?" he asked. "What, you're going to hit me? What kind of witch are you?"

"One that can seriously kick your ass," replied Phoebe. She stepped forward and kicked Corr in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall and causing him to break one of the coffee tables. Corr got back to his feet and wiped himself off, completely unfazed by the attack.

"Didn't even hurt," he chuckled. "This definitely proves my suspicions."

"What are you talking about," asked Phoebe, her fists were still raised and ready to attack again.

Upstairs, Piper leapt off of the bed and gasped for breath. She felt as though something had just knocked the wind out of her. She grasped at her dresser and desperately tried to catch her breath. Leo quickly stood up and walked over to Piper. She instinctively pushed him away and tried to walk out of the room. Leo grabbed Piper by the wrist and pulled her back into the room.

"Don't touch me," Piper gasped. The expression on her face was full of panic. Leo forced her to sit on the bed and tried to heal whatever it was that was wrong with her. Unable to heal her, he stood back and waited for Piper to start breathing normally. Once she was feeling normal again, she looked up at Leo and frowned. "What the hell was that?" she asked. Leo shrugged and sat beside her.

Back downstairs, Phoebe was interrogating the demon, which was looking far more entertained than she felt was necessary. He crossed his arms and smiled maliciously.

"Come on witch," he mocked. "Do it again." He held his arms out and gestured for her to attack him again. Phoebe looked at him with disgust. Noticing the stand of fireplace tools next to her, she grabbed the poker and threw it at him. The poker pierced through Corrs abdomen with little difficulty. The two of them heard Piper cry out upstairs. Phoebe looked back at Corr and watched as he smiled and examined the end of the poker that was sticking out through his back.

Upstairs, Piper stared in shock at her shirt, which was becoming saturated with blood. She grabbed her stomach with one hand and looked up at Leo, who was in just as much shock as she was.

"Oh my god, Piper," Leo gasped. He forced her back onto the bed, pulled Piper's hand away from her stomach, and lifted her shirt enough to see the wound. Trembling, Piper raised her hand and stared at her blood-soaked fingers. Leo held his hands over the wound and watched as they radiated with a bright, white light.

"Dammit!" he snapped angrily when his powers refused to work. He looked back at Piper, who was beginning to lose the colour in her face. He took her hand to keep her from looking at it and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "It's going to be ok," said Leo as calmly as possible.

Corr examined the poker that was piercing through his body. "Nice one," he chuckled, looking back at Phoebe. "I'll bet you were expecting me to burst into flames and disappear, weren't you?" Phoebe looked completely confused. Corr grabbed the handle of the poker and quickly pulled it out. Phoebe flinched as Piper screamed from upstairs.

"What did you do?" Phoebe asked. Corr tossed the poker to the floor and pulled his shirt up to examine his abdomen. It was completely flawless with no sign of ever being pierced. There was no sign of blood anywhere.

"Don't look at me," said Corr. "You did it." He smiled and shimmered out of the room. Phoebe looked around the room to make sure he was gone, then ran upstairs to check on Piper.


	3. Chapter 3

Edit: I've decided to rewrite this chapter because I had just thrown it together the first time. I kind of felt like it was lacking, as I'm sure those of you who read it would agree. I went and did a bit of research this time, so it should be a better read. Enjoy!

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When Phoebe reached Piper and Leo's bedroom, Prue and Leo were already tending to Piper. Piper was lying on her bed, surrounded by blood, which was steadily escaping her body. Even after all of the demon fighting they've done, Piper was still quite squeamish around blood, especially her own, and Phoebe could see her starting to Panic.

"Don't look at it sweetie," said Prue calmly. She pushed a towel that she had grabbed from the bathroom onto Piper's abdomen to slow the bleeding.

"We need to get her to a hospital and fast!" Prue demanded as Piper began to tremble uncontrollably. "Can you still orb?"

"I hope so," replied Leo. He looked down at his wife who was staring blankly at the ceiling. He could tell she was going into shock and needed medical attention as soon as possible. He quickly pictured a place at the hospital in his mind where they could orb in unnoticed.

"Wait!" exclaimed Phoebe suddenly, finally getting over the shock of seeing Piper. She ran over to Leo and grabbed his hand so that she could orb to the hospital with them. The room was illuminated in a bright, white light as the four of them orbed out to the hospital, then returned to its normal state.

They appeared in an empty corridor at St. Luke's Hospital without being seen. Leo lifted Piper into his arms and carried her to the reception desk. Two nurses wheeled a gurney over to them and rushed Piper into one of the emergency rooms. Leo, Prue, and Phoebe raced after them and tried to stay out of the way of the doctors while still comforting Piper. Leo grabbed Piper's hand.

"Honey, you're so cold," said Leo. He cupped Piper's hand between his and pulled it close to his face. He gently kissed her fingers and looked, sympathetically, down at Piper. She had no colour left in her face and her lips were beginning to turn blue.

"What have we got?" asked one of the doctors once they'd reached the ER.

"Penetration of the lower right abdomen," stated one of the ER nurses. "BP is ninety over fifty, pulse ox is low."

"Start a central line," shouted another doctor. "Get me four liters of O neg."

"Piper's AB negative," Prue interjected. None of the ER staff paid any attention to her.

"What happened?" asked one of the doctors as he and the rest of the emergency staff worked together to stabilize Piper. Phoebe stared at the doctor, not knowing if she had an answer for him or her family. The wound was exactly the same as the wound that Corr should have received from her attack, but she couldn't understand how Piper ended up with it.

"We have no idea," replied Leo. "One minute we were standing in the middle of our bedroom and the next minute she was like this."

"Entry and exit wounds are similar in size," announced the head nurse. "Puncture wound is from some type of acicular rod or pole,"

"We're going to need to do a laparotomy," shouted another doctor.

"I don't understand," said Leo, looking over at Prue in disbelief. "We were alone in the room. Nothing went through her." All of the doctors and nurses looked at Leo suspiciously.

"Mr. Wyatt, I'm going to have to ask you and your friends to leave," said the head doctor. "But don't leave the premises. We're going to need you to answer a few questions."

"No," Piper whimpered, squeezing Leo's hand with the little energy she had. "Leo didn't do it," she said through clenched teeth.

"Miss Halliwell, we need you relax," said the head nurse, attempting to calm Piper down. "Everything is going to be all right."

"I'm not leaving her," said Leo. "Neither are her sisters."

"I'm afraid you all need to leave," said the doctor. "We do not allow family in the room during surgery. He gestured toward the doorway where two security guards were standing. They walked into the room and waited for their cue to take Phoebe, Prue, and Leo out of the room. Phoebe chewed at her fingernail nervously. She was still trying to understand what just happened and didn't know how to tell her sisters or Leo. As she looked down at Piper, she couldn't help but feel that she had put her sister in this mess.

Phoebe burst into tears. She couldn't look at Piper for another second. The more she thought about Corr and Piper, the guiltier she felt. She knew she should stay and comfort Piper, but she couldn't stay in the room a moment longer. She rushed out of the room and ran outside to get some air. Prue glared in the direction that Phoebe had left and shook her head disapprovingly. Leo hadn't noticed Phoebe's dramatic exit. He was kneeling beside the surgical table so that he was eye-level with Piper and holding both of her hands to prevent her from freezing anything as the doctors prepped her for surgery. Once the doctors were prepared, the head doctor nodded at the two security guards, which proceeded to forcer Prue and Leo out of the room.

Outside, Phoebe was leaning against the cold, brick wall with her face buried into her hands. Corr shimmered in beside her and leaned against the wall beside her.

"Look at what you did," he tormented. "It'd be a shame if she died. Killing your own sister! You should be ashamed of yourself."

Phoebe turned and glared at him. Her eyes were red from crying and some of her makeup had smeared down her cheeks. "What did you do to Piper!" she spat.

"I didn't do anything," said Corr, holding up his hands submissively. "You deserve all of the credit for this." Phoebe shook her head angrily and wiped her face with the back of her hands. She desperately wanted to attack him, to beat him to a bloody pulp, but she knew deep down that somehow the identity spell that Corr had cast would make any attack inflicted on him transfer over to piper.

"You evil son of a bitch," Phoebe hissed. She gave him one more look of disgust before walking back toward the entrance of the hospital. Corr grinned.

"That's it?" he taunted. "You're not even going to try to get your revenge? I was so looking forward to another ass-kicking." Without looking back, Phoebe gave him the finger and disappeared into the hospital. She wandered back through the corridor and stood in the waiting room of the ER. She noticed Prue and Leo anxiously waiting outside the doors of the ER. Phoebe timidly approached them.

"What the hell happened to you?" Prue hissed. Phoebe backed away apprehensively.

"I'm sorry," said Phoebe softly. "I was a little overwhelmed."

"You're supposed to be here to support Piper," Prue snapped. "Running away like you did just freaked her out more!"

"I said I'm sorry," said Phoebe. "What more do you want?" Leo stepped in between them and attempted to break up the fight that was building between the two sisters.

"All right, I'm not really good at this 'middle-sister' role," said Leo. "But this is not the time or the place for your bickering!" Both sisters looked away. "Follow me," Leo continued. "We're going to find out which room they're going to be taking Piper to when they're finished with her and we're going to take some time to calm down before she comes out of surgery." Prue nodded and took the lead. Leo and Phoebe followed quickly behind.

Prue, Phoebe, and Leo sat impatiently in Piper's hospital room. They had no idea how long they'd been waiting, but it seemed like an eternity. Phoebe was standing by the window, staring down at the busy streets below and contemplating how she was going to tell everyone what had happened. Leo sat comfortable on the hospital bed in the center of the room, absently flipping through channels on the small, black-and-white TV across the room while Prue browsed through the articles in an old magazine.

A small commotion could be heard from the corridor as two nurses wheeled Piper's gurney from the ER to her room. Leo quickly stood up so the nurses could transfer Piper from the gurney to the bed. Both of her sisters stopped what they were doing and moved to Piper's side.

"How is she?" asked Leo He ran his fingers through Piper's hair and stared, lovingly down at her. She was just barely conscious and couldn't keep her eyes open.

"She's going to be fine," replied the head doctor as he walked into the room. The nurses quickly set Piper up with an IV line and a monitor before leaving the room. The doctor shut the door behind them and pulled up a chair. He looked over Piper's chart, then looked back up at her sisters.

"There was major blood loss when she got here," the doctor explained. "We were able to do a transfusion as well as suture both punctures." Phoebe stared down at Piper, not paying attention to the doctor. "Luckily, there were no serious internal injuries. We have her on painkillers to keep her comfortable and if all goes well, she should be able to go home in a couple of days."

"Thank God," Leo sighed.

"If you have any questions, feel free to come and find me at any time," said the doctor. "I'll leave you alone now."

"Thanks," said Prue. She joined Phoebe and Leo in crowding around Piper. The doctor left the room and closed the door to give them some privacy.

"Hey," said Piper. Her voice was raspy, having just woken up. Everyone smiled down at her. "Am I going to live?" She smiled and looked up at Leo. He smiled back at her and nodded.

"How are you feeling?" asked Leo as he pulled up a chair beside the bed.

"I'm ok," replied Piper. "The painkillers are definitely helping." She smiled at him and poked his nose with her finger.

"You should get some rest," said Leo. Piper nodded and allowed her eyes to close. The sedatives were definitely working.

"So, what happened exactly?" Prue asked. "We should come up with a story before the cops get here and start with the questions."

"I don't know," replied Leo. "We were going to lie down for a nap and all of a sudden she couldn't breathe. It was like she's had the wind knocked out of her or something. Then, as soon as she was starting to feel better, she doubled over and started bleeding. I didn't see any demons or warlocks though."

"What about you?" asked Prue. She turned and looked over at Phoebe. Phoebe looked at Prue for a moment, then avoided making eye contact. "Do you know anything?"

"Um… " Said Phoebe uncertainly. "I… I don't know. Corr attacked me in the parlor."

"How does that have anything to do with Piper?" asked Prue. She stared at Phoebe for a few seconds, then turned back toward Leo. "You should go check with Elders." Leo nodded and looked down at Piper. He knew she was going to be all right, but he still didn't want to leave. Knowing that Prue was not the most patient woman in the world, he sighed and orbed out of the room without taking his eyes off of Piper.

Prue looked over at Phoebe and sighed. "Are you ok?" she asked, finally realizing that she had been a little hard on Phoebe. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," replied Phoebe. "But I didn't hurt him either. I tried, but I don't think we're going to be able to kill him by force. We're going to have to vanquish this bastard." Prue nodded and looked back at Piper.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to Soaringmunkymuffins for the reviews!

Edit: I've rewritten some of this chapter as well as the last chapter to make the story more interesting and believable. …On to the next chapter.

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Phoebe pulled Leo into the corridor while Prue sat with Piper. Looking at Phoebe, Leo immediately knew she had something important to tell him.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Leo," Phoebe started. She avoided making eye contact with him. Her bottom lip trembled slightly. "I'm the one who stabbed Piper." With that said, she burst into tears and quickly buried her face into her hands. Leo quickly moved to comfort Phoebe and looked around to make sure no one had heard.

"No you didn't," said Leo. "I was with Piper when it happened. You were downstairs."

"I know," Phoebe sobbed. "But I stabbed Corr with the fireplace poker at the same time." She grabbed a tissue from the cupboard and wiped her eyes. "But he was fine. It didn't even leave a mark. I think it has something to do with the spell he cast. When I attacked Corr, his injuries transferred to Piper." Leo pulled away and looked down at Phoebe, who still couldn't look him in the eye.

"That makes sense," said Leo. "That would be why I can't heal Piper. Technically, her injuries are Corr's." Phoebe nodded.

"Phoebe," said Leo. He turned and looked back at Phoebe. She stopped and looked back at him. "It wasn't your fault. Corr knew you would attack him. What happened to Piper was planned to make you feel guilty." Phoebe allowed herself to smile slightly.

"Thanks Leo," she said gratefully. "Um… I'm kinda hungry. I'm going to run down to the canteen. Do you want anything?" Leo shook his head.

"No, thanks," he replied. "You go ahead." Phoebe sighed and turned to walk toward the canteen. She wasn't really that hungry, but she didn't want to be around Prue when Leo told her what had happened. Prue probably wouldn't have been as understanding as Leo and would have blamed Phoebe for what had happened. She really couldn't handle one of Prue's guilt trips right now.

Leo finished explaining to Prue what Phoebe had told him. She looked stunned for a moment, but then nodded in agreement. "That would make sense," said Prue. "Why you can't heal her, why her injuries didn't make sense…"

"Yeah, but go easy on Phoebe when she gets back," said Leo. "She feels bad enough about it. She doesn't need to feel any worse."

"Why would I make her feel worse?" asked Prue. "She was trying to vanquish a demon. She had no idea it would backfire on Piper."

"You're being very understanding," said Leo.

"Well, yeah," said Prue. "Why wouldn't I be?" Leo shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

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Piper had been in the hospital for nearly a week. The healing process was going well and because there were no signs of internal damage, the doctors had no problems with her going home. Although it had only been a few days, Piper struggled with not being allowed to go home. She had tried everything from begging to guilt trips to get her family to take her home and there had been many breakdowns for all of them. It was a relief in many ways to have her finally coming home.

"That was Leo," Prue announced as she put the phone back in its cradle. "They're on their way home." Phoebe breathed a sigh of relief.

"How is she?" asked Phoebe. Prue sat at the kitchen table across from Phoebe and grabbed a muffin out of the basket in the center of the table.

"From what I could hear," replied Prue as she peeled back the wrapper on the muffin. "She sounds fine. It sounded like she was dragging Leo outside." Both of them smiled.

"We should clean up a bit," Phoebe suggested. "We don't want Piper to do a whole lot for awhile." Prue nodded. They had at least twenty minutes until Leo and Piper would arrive, as traffic was quite heavy. Prue had left Piper's Cherokee at the hospital for Piper and Leo to drive home in. They didn't want to risk anyone catching Leo orb.

Phoebe began clearing the table and washed the dishes while Prue wandered around the house and put things away as she saw them. Once the house felt clean, Prue wandered back into the kitchen and helped Phoebe put the clean dishes away. They could both hear the sound of the front door open and close as well as Piper and Leo's voices.

Prue and Phoebe dropped what they were doing and ran to the front entrance. They nearly knocked Piper over as they ran to hug her.

"I'm so glad you're home," said Phoebe excitedly. She had her arms tightly wrapped around Piper and rested her chin on Piper's shoulder.

"Me too," said Piper. She had a huge grin spread across her face from the moment she walked out of the car. She had never been so happy to be back in the manor in her life.

Prue finally pulled away and smiled at Piper. Phoebe, however, refused to let go. Prue rolled her eyes, but continued to smile.

"All right," she said finally, pulling Phoebe away. "Let her breathe."

"Sorry," said Phoebe. She pulled away from Piper, but remained close by her side.

"Wow," said Piper. "The manor is still in one piece. I was sure we'd be coming home to a disaster."

"I would so take offense to that if I wasn't so happy you're back," said Prue. Piper grinned and looked back at Leo. He took her by the hand and led her toward the stairs.

"You need to get some rest," he said as he dragged Piper up the stairs. "You are not allowed to lift a finger for the next couple of weeks." Piper rolled her eyes.

"I've been stuck in bed for long enough already," said Piper. "I don't want to be treated any differently than normal. I just want to act like nothing ever happened."

"You wish," said Prue as she followed them upstairs. Phoebe watched her sisters walk up the stairs and breathed a sigh of relief. She had never been so relieved to have both of her sisters at home.


	5. Chapter 5

Whoops, sorry I took so long in adding this chapter. For some reason I thought I had posted it already. I've had it done for quite some time. :p It's not very exciting or anything, but hopefully you enjoy it. I'll be posting the next chapter right away as that is what I had intended on doing today anyway. I'm only going to have the opportunity to add to this story one day a week for the next little while, so hopefully I can update on those days. I'll try not to make you wait too long. Enjoy!

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Piper stood quietly in the kitchen, chopping random vegetables and placing them off to the side. Prue walked quickly through the kitchen, grabbed her keys, and walked into the laundry room without taking notice of Piper. She stopped short and quickly turned back toward the kitchen. She stared at Piper in disbelief, then down at the massive pile of chopped veggies. Piper looked up and smiled.

"What are you doing?" Prue exclaimed. "You're supposed to be up in bed. The doctor told you not to put any stress on your body until you've healed." Piper rolled her eyes and continued chopping.

"If I have to sit up in the room for another second, I swear I'm going to go crazy," replied Piper. "Besides, does it really look like I'm stressing myself? It's not like I'm out jogging or anything." Prue set her keys down and sat pulled up a chair across from Piper.

"How many people were you planning on feeding?" Prue asked with a smile as she stared at the mountain of veggies.

"I don't know," replied Piper. "Honestly, I just wanted something to do. I hadn't even planned on a specific meal." She set her knife down and crossed her arms. "I guess we'll be having stir fry and veggies and dip for the next couple of weeks." Prue nodded in agreement.

"How are you feeling?" Prue asked, ending the short period of silence between them.

"I'm all right," replied Piper. "At least Corr is focused on us. If he were out fighting with other demons, I think I'd be in worse shape than this."

"Don't give him any ideas," said Prue seriously. Piper laughed slightly.

"Where were you going?" asked Piper. "You looked like you were in a hurry." Prue looked up at the clock and stood up abruptly.

"Oh my god," Prue gasped. "I'm late for work!" She grabbed her purse and keys and headed toward the dining room. "I'll be at 415. Call me if you need me."

"Have fun!" said Piper sarcastically. She stared down at the mess that she had created and sighed. She turned and rummaged through a few cupboards and drawers to find a container to put the vegetables in.

Just as Prue neared the front door of the manor, Phoebe burst into the house. She had a huge smile spread across her face and could barely contain her excitement.

"You'll never guess what just happened to me!" Phoebe squealed. Prue stood and looked at her expectantly. "Come on, ask me what happened!"

"What…" Prue began.

"I got an A+ on my Psychology midterm," Phoebe interrupted, completely cutting Prue off.

"Congratulations!" said Prue happily. She embraced her sister in a tight hug. Phoebe's excitement was contagious. She couldn't help but smile with pride. "I am so proud of you." Phoebe pulled away.

"I'm proud of me too!" she beamed. "Where's Piper? I've got to tell her."

"In the kitchen," replied Prue. "Making a mess." The smile on Phoebe's face was replaced with a look of concern.

"What is she doing out of bed?" Phoebe asked. "She's supposed to be taking it easy this week." She started walking toward the kitchen.

"I already talked to her," replied Prue. "She's fine as long as she doesn't decide to start doing all of the housework."

Before Phoebe had reached the end of the foyer, Corr shimmered in front of her. She gasped with surprise and stepped back. Without thinking, Prue shot her hand into the air and sent the grandfather clock flying toward Corr.

"Prue, don't!" Phoebe exclaimed. Corr fell to the floor, crushed under what was left of the grandfather clock. He stood up and kicked the remains of the clock to the side. He smiled and looked over at Prue.

"This is just to easy," he chuckled before shimmering back out of the room. Prue and Phoebe started running toward the kitchen. Phoebe immediately noticed Piper lying lifelessly on the kitchen floor. Phoebe quickly ran to Piper's side and moved her so that her head was resting comfortably on Phoebe's lap. Prue ran into the room a few seconds later and knelt beside her sisters.

"Is she ok?" Prue gasped.

"I think so," replied Phoebe. "I think you just knocked her out." Prue grabbed one of Piper's hands and gently pat it.

"Wake up sweetie," she said softly. "Come on." Phoebe looked up at Prue.

"She's going to be fine," said Phoebe. "I'll call Leo and have her take her upstairs to her room. You need to get to work. Remember, you're the only bread-winner in this family while Piper's out of commission. We don't want you to lose your job."

"Are you sure?" asked Prue. She continued to stare down at Piper. Phoebe nodded.

"Positive," she replied. "Go on, get out of here." Prue smiled and stood up.

"Tell her I'm really sorry," said Prue as she headed for the dining room.

"I will," replied Phoebe. "Drive safe!" She listened as Prue ran through the house and slammed the front door behind her. Phoebe called for Leo and sat with Piper until he appeared in the room.

"What happened?" he asked, quickly kneeling next to Piper.

"We had another run in with Corr," replied Phoebe as Leo lifted Piper into his arms. "Prue dropped the clock on him. Don't worry, she'll be fine. She's just been knocked out." Leo orbed himself and Piper out of the kitchen and into Piper's bedroom. Phoebe ran up the stairs and into Piper's bedroom just as Leo set her on the bed.

"We really need to be careful," said Leo as he sat next to Piper. "We don't want the doctors to get suspicious and send the cops to question us again. It was hard enough coming up with an excuse for what happened to her last time." Phoebe nodded.

"I know," said Phoebe. "It wasn't intentional, just habit." Piper groaned and looked up at Leo.

"What happened?" she asked as she gingerly felt the back of her head.

"Corr," replied Phoebe. "Prue hit him with the clock. She's really sorry." She jumped onto the bed and squished in beside Piper.

"Is he gone?" Piper asked. Phoebe nodded and rested her head on Piper's arm.

"Yeah," Phoebe replied. "I don't think he was here to attack us. He was just testing whether or not the identity spell still worked." Piper slowly sat up and tried to get out of bed. Phoebe and Leo prevented her from leaving.

"You need to stay in bed," said Leo. "You're not healed yet."

"I'm fine," Piper groaned. "Look, I'm no safer in bed than I am in the kitchen. I'm going to be affected by any attack on Corr no matter where I am. At least let me finish with dinner." Leo sighed, defeated. He helped Piper out of bed and walked downstairs with her, Phoebe following close behind.

The three of them wandered into the kitchen and all contributed in putting the vegetables away. Piper began pulling pots and pans out of the cupboards and started preparing dinner.

With all of the excitement over, Phoebe suddenly remembered why she had come home in such a hurry. "Oh yeah!" she exclaimed. "You'll never guess what happened to me today."


	6. Chapter 6

I decided to add a lighter chapter after all that drama. :p Hope you like it.

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"I really don't think this is a good idea," said Phoebe. She watched as her sister moved swiftly behind the bar at P3. She'd been away for quite awhile and was trying to get everything back in order before opening the club for the night. Piper placed two empty liquor bottles on the bar and looked at her sister.

"I told you," said Piper. "I feel totally fine and the club definitely needs me. I mean, we're almost completely out of vodka, tequila, and mineral water. This is why I don't go on vacation." She disappeared into the supply room, leaving Phoebe sitting alone at the bar. "Does no one around here know how to do inventory?" She could hear Piper grumble. She couldn't help but smile.

"Piper, you have to promise you're going to take it easy tonight," said Phoebe as Piper walked back into the room with an arm full of liquor bottles. She placed them on the liquor shelf behind the bar and looked back at Phoebe.

"I promise," she said with fake enthusiasm. "I'm just going to catch up on paperwork and the payroll. I won't be serving or anything."

"Good," said Phoebe. She looked down at her watch. "Crap, I need to get to class. Call me if you need anything… or if anything happens." She began walking toward the exit. "Or if you see Corr… or."

"Phoebe!" Piper snapped. "I'm going to be fine. I will call you if anything happens." Phoebe smiled and ran up the stairs towards the front doors of the club. Piper watched her sister disappear around the corned and let out an aggravated sigh. She went back to cleaning up the empty bottles and replacing them with new ones.

At a bar across town, Corr sat at the bar of one of his favourite pubs. The place was pretty much a dive, with rats scurrying around on the floor and cobwebs in nearly every corner, but it was the type of place where many demons could stop and have a drink. The pub was actually run by a few well-known demons. Pretty well all of the customers were actually members of the underworld.

It was nearing midnight and Corr had had his fair share of alcohol. Normally, after the amount that he had consumed, he would have been a mess, but for some reason he wasn't feeling the least bit tipsy.

"What's with you?" asked the bartender. "That's your tenth drink tonight. Usually you're blitzed out of your mind by now." Corr shrugged and pounded back the shot that the bartender had given him.

"I don't know," replied Corr. "But this is ridiculous." He stood up and walked toward the exit; pushing a couple of drunk demons aside as he made his way outside. He lit up a cigarette and leaned against the wall. He looked at his watch and tried to think of something he could do with the rest of his night.

Prue and Phoebe sat quietly in the parlour, watching an old horror movie, which was being broadcast on one of the local channels. Phoebe was curled up on one side of the couch with a huge bowl of popcorn in her lap. Startled by the phone, Phoebe sent the popcorn flying into the air. Popcorn began raining down on her and Prue, creating a huge mess on the floor as well as the couch.

"This is why I don't like watching scary movies with you," Prue giggled. She got up and walked into the sitting room to get the phone. Phoebe blushed and ran to get the broom and dustpan.

"Hello?" said Prue as she held the phone to her ear.

"Uh… hi," said the person on the other end. "Is this Prue?"

"Yep," replied Prue. "Who's this."

"I'm Matt," he replied. "I'm one of the bartenders at P3."

"Is Piper ok?" Prue asked suddenly. Phoebe ran to Prue side, with broom in hand, and tried listening to her phone conversation.

"Oh, she'll be fine," replied Matt. "But I don't think she should work any more tonight. You might want to come pick her up."

"We'll be there in two minutes!" Phoebe shouted as she ran to get Prue's car keys. Prue cringed, having had Phoebe just shout in her ear.

"We'll be right there," said Prue. "Take care of her until we get there."

"Will do," said Matt. "Sorry to bother you." Prue place the phone back in its cradle and followed Phoebe outside to her car. They crawled into the car and sped out of the driveway, nearly knocking over one of the garbage cans on the sidewalk.

Once they'd arrived at P3, they ran inside and over to the bar. Matt was mixing a drink for one of the customers. He looked over at them and smiled.

"You must be Prue and Phoebe," he said. He gave the customer his drink and took his money. After placing the money in the register he motioned for the girls to follow him. They walked through the staff area and into Piper's office. Piper was sitting in her chair in a fit of drunken giggles. One of the bouncers was there, trying to keep her in the office until her sisters came to pick her up.

"Oh my god," Phoebe giggled. "Piper! Have you been drinking?" She ran over to her sister and helped her to her feet.

"No," replied Piper. Her stood, unsteady, for a moment, then collapsed to the floor. She exploded into another fit of giggles. The bouncer rolled his eyes and helped Phoebe pull Piper off of the floor.

"She wasn't like this when I started my shift," said the bouncer. "And no one saw her have anything to drink besides mineral water." Phoebe pulled one of Piper's arms around her neck to hold her up.

"This is my baby sister," Piper slurred. She pinched Phoebe's cheeks, making her lips pucker out. "Isn't she just the cutest thing you ever saw in your whole life?" She let go of Phoebe's face and nearly fell to the floor. Prue ran over to Piper and wrapped Piper's free arm around her shoulders so that both she and Phoebe were holding her up.

"I should get back to work," said Matt. "Good luck."

"Thanks for calling," said Phoebe. Matt nodded and disappeared around the corner.

"By Matty," Piper shouted. "He's such a sweet boy. He's gonna make a good drink-giver person some day."

"Uh… right," said Phoebe. "We're going to take her home. Is there someone that can close the club tonight?"

"Matt and I will do it," replied the bouncer. "Don't worry about a thing."

"Thanks," said Phoebe. She and Prue started dragging Piper out of the office and toward the back exit to avoid causing a scene.

"You know what's a funny word?" said Piper. "Intoxicamated. No, intoxicatemed…." She continued repeating the word to herself as she was practically carried outside to Prue's car. Prue removed Piper's arm from her shoulder and opened the back door of her car. The second Piper crawled into the back seat, she passed out. Prue and Phoebe got into the car and drove Piper back home.

"Come on, wake up sweetie," said Phoebe once they'd arrived home. She had crawled into the back seat with Piper and was trying to get her to wake up. Piper mumbled something inaudible and squinted up at her sister. "Let's get you inside." She and Prue pulled Piper out of the car and helped her up the steps to the house. As Prue fumbled with her key, Piper moved quickly over to the side of the steps and puked in the flowerbed. Phoebe gently pulled Piper's hair back and rubbed her shoulders until she was finished. Piper stumbled back and followed her sisters into the house. Phoebe walked Piper over to the couch and let her lay down while Prue retrieved a bucket.

"How are you feeling?" Phoebe asked softly.

"Terrible," replied Piper. "What the hell happened?"

"Some of the guys from P3 sent you home," replied Phoebe. "You were drunk." She grabbed a blanket and covered Piper, who had started shaking uncontrollably from the sudden lack of alcohol in her system.

"I didn't have anything to drink," Piper groaned. "Just a few bottles of mineral water. And I opened them, so I know they weren't spiked."

"I think this has more to do with what Corr had to drink tonight than what you had," said Prue as she walked into the room. She placed the bucket on the floor by Piper's head and sat on the coffee table across from the couch. "I think the spell might be progressing."

"Great," Piper sighed. "How am I supposed to do anything now if he's going to go and get corked out of his mind at any given time?" Prue shrugged.

"We're just going to have to find a way to vanquish him," replied Phoebe. "And soon."


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for the reviews everyone! I really appreciate the feedback. LostWitch5, don't worry, I'm working on adding the vanquish into the story and, yes, if they try to vanquish Corr they will end up vanquishing Piper, but they know that. I'll try to work that fact into this chapter (for some reason I thought I already had… oops!) Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Sorry for the delay. Work has kept me really busy, but I will try to update as much as possible.

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"This is hopeless!" Phoebe grumbled as she threw a crumpled piece of paper on the floor. "There is no reversal spell in here anywhere."

Prue grabbed the paper off of the floor and placed it in a nearby garbage can. She sat next to Phoebe on the sofa and pulled the Book of Shadows away from her. "Maybe we don't need a reversal," said Prue. "Let's just get rid of him."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Phoebe asked. "Anything we try on Corr affects Piper instead."

Prue thought for a moment, then turned through the pages of the Book of Shadows and stopped on the page that described Corr. "There's a vanquish in here," she said. "We can try vanquishing him."

"And we'll end up vanquishing our sister instead," said Phoebe. "Bad idea." She stood up suddenly and left the attic, pushing passed Piper on her way out. Piper looked back at Phoebe, then over at Prue.

"What's her problem?" Piper whispered.

"I think it's 'that time of the month'," replied Prue. "She's a little cranky." Piper nodded and sat next to Prue. "Which is actually quite weird," Prue continued. "Usually you're the moody one around this time."

"Hey!" said Piper. She was obviously offended by Prue's last comment. Prue looked at her and raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Yeah, ok," she admit. "I usually get pretty snippy, but I feel fine. I'm not bloating or craving chocolate or anything. I love it."

"Not fair," said Prue. She handed the Book of Shadows to Piper and stood up. "I need to go out for a bit. Can you see if you can find any way to either reverse the spell or get rid of Corr?" Piper nodded.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the underworld, Corr was sitting with a few friends and playing a game of Poker.

"There's something different about you man," said one of Corr's demon friends. "I don't know what it is."

"You know what," Corr snapped. "Maybe you should just get off of my back!" All of the demons looked at Corr questioningly.

"Geeze, calm down!" said another demon sarcastically. "Take a Midol or something!" Corr glared at him. He threw his cards on the table and began walking away.

"I really don't need to deal with this right now," Corr snapped, close to crying. "I'm going out for ice cream, or chocolate, or something. You guys suck!" He ran through one of the caves and disappeared. All of the demons shrugged and looked over at where Corr had disappeared.

"What's his problem?" asked one of the demons. The others shrugged and continued with their game.

Corr shimmered outside of the Halliwell Manor and burst through the door. He ran passed Phoebe and Prue and up the stairs toward the attic. Phoebe dropped her mug of tea and ran after him with Prue close behind. Corr ran into the attic and stopped when he saw Piper holding the Book of Shadows.

"What have you done to me?" he said, trying his hardest not to cry. Piper dropped the book and stood up. Corr leapt at the book, which sent him flying in the opposite direction. He hit one of the walls and fell to the floor.

Corr stood up just as Prue and Phoebe ran into the room. He looked over at them angrily before shimmering back out of the room.

"What the hell?" asked Prue.

"PMS demon," replied Piper with a smile. "I think I have an idea."


	8. Chapter 8

Prue and Phoebe followed close behind Piper as she ran up the stairs towards the attic. She ran over to the Book of Shadows and flipped through the pages until she reached the page about Corr.

"Can you stop for a second and explain this plan?" asked Prue. She watched as Piper began tossing a few ingredients into the antique potion pot.

"I'm making the vanquishing potion for Corr," replied Piper. "But we're going to use it on me." Prue and Phoebe looked at her in disbelief. As Piper reached over to grab some Burdock root Prue quickly intercepted her and pulled it away.

"We are not going to use a vanquishing potion on you," said Prue. She held the Burdock root out of reach as Piper tried to grab it. Piper stepped back and crossed her arms.

"Nothing is going to happen to me," said Piper. "Phoebe spilled a vanquishing potion on herself before and nothing happened. Remember?"

"That was a far weaker potion than this one," said Phoebe as she tapped the pages of the Book of Shadows to emphasize her argument. "And it was designed for that specific demon. This is a generic vanquishing potion, which means it doesn't just vanquish Corr. What if we end up vanquishing you?"

"Think about it Prue," Piper explained. "Anything that happens to him, happens to me and anything that happens to me, happens to him. If we vanquish me, we will vanquish him."

"But what if it doesn't work that way?" asked Phoebe. "We are not going to take that chance!" She stared at her sister seriously. "You can't ask us to do this."

"There's no other way," said Piper. "We have to vanquish him before he does something to kill me." Both of her sisters were left speechless. They both wanted to argue with Piper, but she was right. Corr could easily do something to himself that would inevitably kill Piper and neither Prue nor Phoebe would be able to stop him.

"We can't just jump into this," said Prue. "We should at least do some kind of test first." Piper watched her questioningly as Prue began looking around. Prue began rummaging through an old chest and retrieved an old athame. She held it up and held out her hand. "Give me your hand."

"No way," said Piper. She put both her hands behind her back and stared at Prue in disbelief.

"Don't be such a baby," said Prue. She pulled one of Piper's hands out from behind her back. "I can't believe you're ready to vanquish yourself, but you're afraid of a little cut." She quickly ran the blade across the palm of Piper's hand before she could protest. Piper pulled her hand away and stared at her uninjured palm.

"It worked," said Piper. She held her hand up for both sisters to see. "Shall we do this then?" She grabbed the Burdock root and tossed it into potion pot.

Corr was sitting in the pub on his favourite stool near the bar. He cried out suddenly and looked down at his bloody palm. "That bitch!" he cursed. He clenched his fist and looked around for some way to get back at the Charmed Ones. Spotting a large demon near the back of the bar, Corr smiled and began walking toward him. The demon glared at Corr as he approached his table.

"What do you want?" he grumbled.

Corr started insulting the demon, trying his hardest to make him angry. He kept at it until the demon got up from his seat and walked over to Corr. Corr stepped back instinctively, all the while continuing to berate the demon. The demon grabbed Corr by the neck and pushed him up against the wall.

"Any last requests?" hissed the demon. Corr smiled evilly back at the demon and nodded his head to the best of his ability considering the position he was in.

"Yeah," he gasped. "Yo' mama!"

Piper dropped some of the potion ingredients on the floor and began clawing at her neck, desperately trying to catch her breath.

"Piper!" Phoebe exclaimed. She watched as Prue ran to help Piper. Not knowing what was actually happening, Prue had no idea what to do to help.

"Someone is choking Corr," said Phoebe suddenly. She pointed to the red finger marks appearing around Piper's neck. Piper fell to her knees, continuing to try to pull off the invisible hands that were preventing her from breathing. "Do something!" Phoebe sobbed.

Prue looked over at the potion pot and quickly threw in the last of the ingredients. The potion began bubbling and emitting a large green cloud of smoke. Knowing she had no other options, Prue pushed the potion pot to the floor. The potion splattered onto the floor around Piper's feet and exploded around her. The whole attic filled with smoke, preventing Prue and Phoebe from seeing Piper. As the smoke began to clear, Prue and Phoebe stood silently, waiting to see if the potion had worked. Finally, they could see Piper, laying lifelessly on the attic floor.


	9. Chapter 9

The demon wrapped both of his hands tightly around Corr's neck, intent on killing him. Corr continued to smile evilly at him, which aggravated him even more. The smile suddenly faded from Corr's face as he was engulfed in flames and a green cloud of smoke. The demon let go of him and stepped back, confused. Corr dropped to his knees and screamed as he was devoured by the flames. The demon looked down at the scorch marks by his feet, then over at his friends. He turned to the crowd that was staring at him and looked at them threateningly.

"Let that be a lesson to the rest of you," he growled before returning to his seat.

"Piper?" whimpered Phoebe as she knelt beside her lifeless sister. "Come on baby, wake up."

Prue knelt beside them and pulled Piper close. She ran her hands through Piper's hair and fought the urge to cry.

"What have I done?" she said, almost inaudibly. She barely noticed Phoebe completely break down beside her; she was too focused on Piper.

Piper gasped for breath suddenly, startling both of her sisters. She looked up at Prue questioningly and sat up.

"Did it work?" Piper asked. Phoebe nodded and embraced her tightly. Piper smiled and struggled to breathe as Phoebe squeezed her tightly.

"Phoebe," Piper gasped. "I can't breathe."

"Oh my god!" Phoebe choked. "Prue it didn't work." Prue hugged Piper and smiled.

"Yes it did," said Prue as she rolled her eyes. "She couldn't breathe because you were squeezing her too hard." Phoebe sighed with relief and joined in hugging her two older sisters.

Later that night, Piper crawled into bed and wrapped herself with her blankets. The room lit up suddenly as Leo appeared next to the bed, surrounded by bright blue orbs.

"Hey," said Piper happily.

"Hey," replied Leo. He crawled into bed next to Piper. "I just heard about Corr. Nice work."

"Thanks," said Piper. "Let's just hope that it never happens again. I guess we need up security around the Book of Shadows from now on." Leo nodded.

"The Elders suggested putting up a few more protection spells up in the attic," said Leo. "For added protection."

"Consider it done," said Piper. She relaxed against her pillow and closed her eyes.

"Oh, I almost forgot," said Leo. He leaned over the side of the bed and rummaged through the drawer of the nearby nightstand. He extracted a box of nasal strips and attached it to his nose. Piper smiled.

"What made you change your mind?" asked Piper.

"I figured you've been through enough lately," said Leo. "The least I can do is let you get a good night's sleep." Piper hugged Leo tightly and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," she said appreciatively.

Just as the two of them began to fall asleep, they could hear the faint sound of snoring coming from Phoebe's room. Piper rolled her eyes and pushed her pillow over her head to drown out the noise. Leo smiled and grabbed his box of nasal strips.

"Get some rest," said Leo. "I'll fix it." Piper watched as Leo left the room to give Phoebe one of his nasal strips. She closed her eyes and, for the first time in months, was able to get a decent, uninterrupted sleep.


End file.
